The battery in mom’s car has now gone dead twice from sitting due to her not driving with the Stay-At-Home orders for COVID.

The first time I gave it a jump with my car and we took it for a drive and it was fine for awhile. Today she went to take it for a spin after having now driven it for a week...and it’s dead again.

I could jump it with my car again to get it going...BUT....I JUST remembered we have an ancient battery charger on a shelf in the basement storage room that I know nothing about (I think it was left in this house when we moved in?. It’s an old ‘Allanson’ unit...no idea of the vintage (guessing ‘70s?), or if it even works:

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...here is where we excuse my lack of intelligence. As I have never used an automotive battery charger before, I have only a vague idea what I am doing. Obviously, I know the basics: put the switch on it to 12v, black to black., red to red, plug into wall and leave it for several hours...but...will this shut itself off when the battery is charged? It says it has ‘overload protection’, so I am assuming so?

I am assuming I should take the battery out of the car if I do this...right? ...though I seem to remember seeing pics of people online using these with the battery still in the car...?

Also...I thought I’d read somewhere (and forgive my ignorance) that modern cars can go a bit wonky due to all their electronic wizardry without a battery installed for a long-ish length of time (ECU settings being reset, factory and aftermarket radios needing codes re-entered, etc). The one in her car has a BIT of a charge, enough to keep the clock correct and the odo correct, etc, etc...just not enough to turn over the engine. Is ‘wonkiness’ going to be an issue if I have to leave it charging, say, overnight or something? Then again, we’re talking mom’s 2010 Accent sedan, so it’s not exactly the most complex of modern cars.

Thoughts and advice are appreciated and thanks for not making fun of me too much! :P